Allusion to Midnight
by Kreyana
Summary: After six centuries, Uchiha Sasuke finds himself surrounded with friends, but without the one person he needs until he finds sixteen year old Uzumaki Naruto. But things with this boy are never what they really appear. [SasuNaru] [vampire fic]
1. A Piece of History

**Allusion to Midnight**  
By Kreyana

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, obviously. If I did, I think we all know what sasunaru would have been doing very early on…

**Summary:** After six centuries, Uchiha Sasuke finds himself surrounded with friends, but without the one person he needs; until he finds sixteen year old Uzumaki Naruto. But things with this boy are never what they really appear. SasuNaru

- - -  
**C**.h.a.p.t.e.r**1  
A****P**iece **o**f **H**istory  
- - -

October was one of those months that could be either exciting or annoying. For children, it was exciting: the forever-looming prospect of October's seasonal holiday, Halloween, drove them to new heights of excitement; for any adult within the vicinity of a child, Halloween reigned as one of the more annoying holidays.

Christmas was probably the worst.

Uzumaki Naruto, a young man of sixteen years, his hair naturally sun-blond and spiked, his eyes a deep, pure blue, both loved and hated October. He loved the warm-but-cool weather, the sometimes-light-sometimes-severe rain, the colorful trees, and the general feel of the month. And more than anything, he _loved_Halloween; the costume parties his friends always held, and the long nights of music, drinks, and general young-adult conversation, jokes and laughter.

He hated only one thing about October: the Trick-or-Treaters that wandered up to door after door, yelling out the common 'password' for candy. He had been stuck with candy duty at a party once or twice in the last couple of years, and after the last, he'd sworn to Sakura that he would _not _do it ever again.

He sighed heavily into a telephone receiver.

"For the last time, Sakura_–_ _no. _You know I hate candy duty!"

He knew she was pouting.

"_But Naruto–"_

"Get Kiba to do it." Naruto grinned at the thought of their dog-loving friend camping out at Sakura's door with the candy bowl.

"_I already tried Kiba,"_ his pink-haired friend sighed. _"He laughed."_

Sudden inspiration struck as the blond flipped through his digital photo album, "How about Lee? You know he would do anything for you."

Sakura huffed with annoyance, but Naruto knew for a fact that a soft, flattered flush would be covering her cheeks.

"_Alright, I'll ask him."_

Naruto grinned, "Don't forget to flirt."

A disgusted sound preceded the dial tone. The blond hit the small off button on his black, cordless phone and tossed it onto his bed. The last two years, he had been a sucker for his pink-haired friend; this time, it had been easy to refuse. Naruto looked back to his laptop.

"Oh shit," he muttered as the time caught his attention. If he didn't leave _immediately_, he would be late to meet someone incredibly important – his father, Iruka.

- - -

The little café that Iruka loved was the little café that Iruka owned. The retired schoolteacher had found that, while teaching was a noble occupation, it did not well support a growing young boy – especially when said young boy ate as much as Naruto did; five to seven servings three or more times a day. Thus, Iruka had retired from schooling, after thoroughly researching what it would take to own and run his own little place.

It had been easier than he'd expected, once Kakashi had moved in with them. The silver-haired man was an ex-coworker from the high school, and Iruka's secret lover of several years.

"Shouldn't you be grading papers or something?" Iruka asked, a hint of annoyance coloring his tone.

Kakashi flipped a page in his book, "All done."

The small, triple silver bells attached to the café's entrance jingled. Iruka's glaring gaze snapped to the door, and he frowned. His blond bundle of trouble doubled over, panting, and gave the brunet a wide grin.

"You're late," Iruka stated flatly.

Naruto laughed nervously, "Uh, yeah… sorry! Sakura called about Halloween."

"Are you on candy duty again this year?" Kakashi smirked through the cloth mask he always wore over the lower half of his face; his left eye had been covered by a black eye patch for as long as Naruto had known the man – he sometimes thought of him as a pirate. A very perverted pirate; it actually fit the occupation – and the man – perfectly.

"Hell no," Naruto grinned, and Iruka frowned deeper.

"Language, young man." Iruka sighed as his adopted son waved him off with his usual 'yeah, yeah.' "Get an apron on and help me out, Naruto. We're short one employee, today."

The blond did as asked without any complaint. Naruto often enjoyed helping Iruka out at the café, no matter how odd it was for the friends that knew him well as a lazy, accident-prone, ramen-loving pig.

Kakashi ignored the messenger bag that was tossed into his booth, right beside him, and turned another page in his book.

Iruka had to resist the urge to smack the often-irritating man upside his head.

- - -

Near noon, the silver-belled doors jingled with the arrival of more customers. Naruto reflexively looked up and called out his customary greeting. A grin broke out across his face when he recognized the grinning brunet and his three flanks.

"Kiba! Hey guys."

The foursome fell into their usual booth and waited for the blond to finish at another table. When their friend was freed, he bounded over to them.

"The usual?" he asked, whipping out his pen and notepad.

"Yep," Kiba, the tall brunet with odd red tattoos on both cheeks, grinned.

Naruto marked it down and turned expectantly to the next.

The small, dark-haired girl reflexively flushed. "M-my usual as well, p-please, Naruto," she stuttered.

The blond grinned, writing on his notepad, "No problem, Hinata! How about you, Shika?"

The forever lackluster teen slightly shrugged, "Tea."

"Same!" Naruto's pink-haired friend, Sakura, beamed after.

Naruto nodded, taking down each request. "Got it," he grinned. "I'll be back with those in a minute," and he bounded away from the table. Before he could make it back to the counter, another table had flagged him over.

Kiba sat back, lounging with arms behind his head. "Poor Naruto," but he said it with a grin that did not suggest he meant his words.

Sakura smacked his side. "You should offer to help Iruka-sensei," she chided. Even though Iruka hadn't been a teacher in nearly ten years, all of his ex-students still referred to him as such.

Kiba made a face and slight gagging noises in response. A loud ring suddenly echoed through the café, almost simultaneously followed by shattering dishes and a loud curse.

Naruto had dropped a set of plates next to their table.

"LANGUAGE, NARUTO!" boomed from behind the counter, where Iruka glared menacingly.

The blond flinched, quietly apologizing. The ringing grew a little louder at the groups table.

"Here," Kakashi-sensei spawned seemingly out of nowhere, a dustpan and brush in one hand, Naruto's cell phone in the other. "I'll take care of this; it looks like your boss is calling."

Naruto apologized to his friends, turning politely away from them as he answered.

Kakashi-sensei quickly had the mess mopped up and was on his way to the kitchen before the call was finished.

Naruto hung up with a sigh. He turned back to his friends, giving them a cheerful smile. "Sorry guys, duty calls."

The group waved him off with grins and calls of _good luck_. "Man," Kiba commented as they watched the blond discard his apron, grab his bag, and rush from the café. "Naru really does have it rough."

"Why does he have two jobs?" Hinata quietly wondered.

"He doesn't," Sakura replied. "Naruto works for that magazine part-time because of school, but Iruka only sometimes needs his help. A lot of the time, Naruto just helps because he wants to."

Kakashi delivered their drinks silently and walked off to another table. The group blinked after him.

"So how about Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura grinned malevolently, "He's whipped."

Their tall, reliable and silent teacher stumbled right then, dropping a plate; it shattered on the tiled floor.

It was almost like he had heard her.

- - -

The blond jogged down busy streets as quickly as he could. Being a Saturday, and his day off, he hadn't expected his boss to call with an assignment. So, as any teen would do, Naruto had left his equipment at home.

He ran up the steps to his securely locked front door, fishing in his pockets for the key.

Naruto lived in a moderate two-story house with his adopted father, Iruka, and sensei, Kakashi. They had lived in that house for as long as he could remember; it was an inheritance of sorts from Iruka's parents'.

Their home matched the neighborhood in its off-white hue and red roofing, with matching red shutters. Inside was rather homey and light. Iruka cleaned the place often, like an old maid. The twenty-seven-year-old man was rather mother-henish to the blond and the home.

For such a bright young man, Naruto's room was an extreme opposite. To Iruka's chagrin, the walls had been painted black soon after they moved in. The curtains at his window and the duvet cover at his bed were a deep red – some of the only color in the room. His computer – a high-grade laptop designed for graphic media – the desk, chairs, dresser, end tables, and bookshelves were all black. Even his lamps held no color.

When Naruto started photography, the bare black walls became the perfect background. Framed pictures – both color and black-and-white – lined the walls artistically.

His favorite photograph resided, large and centered on the wall across from his bed. The grand piece of work was edited to be black-and-white with only a single, brilliant hint of color – his eyes. It was a self-portrait photograph of the blond, with one of the most devastating looks about him. At the time, Naruto hadn't realized that his image, though smiling, was reflecting the emotions his thoughts evoked.

It was one of a series of many self-portraits he took. Naruto had chosen that one for his project because it was the only one seemed _real_.

Naruto kept his photography equipment in the top drawer of his desk, so when he entered his room, he went straight for it. Within moments, his photography bag was loaded and ready to go, slung over his shoulder.

He left through the garage with his bike, hopping onto it as he reached the sidewalk.

- - -

By two-o'clock, Naruto found the small dirt road that would lead to his assigned destination. The path was wide enough for a small moving truck and covered in foliage. The mansion he was to photograph lay in a portion of the forest just outside of Konoha city limits.

It was all private property.

The thick trees made the sky seem darker and the breeze cooler. Naruto shivered through his jacket, glancing around the path. He passed the entrance to a cemetery, and skidded to a stop. He backed his bike up, staring past the open archway into a large, foggy and tree-riddled area with hundreds of cement tombstones and God-only-knew what else.

On one hand, a warning chill slithered down his spine; and on the other hand, the photographer in him brimmed with excitement. He only ever saw cemeteries like that one in horror movies.

Naruto propped his bike against the archway and went in.

He wandered well past the entrance before stopping. A tombstone served as a quick table for the blond as he set his bag down to pull out his camera. He slung the bag over his shoulder, the camera strap around is neck. Naruto snapped a few images of the entrance, several feet away, and the area around him before he continued further in. Many names were among the headstones, but the most prominent surname that he could find sparked his memory.

_Uchiha._

He knew that name from _somewhere_. Perhaps his history books? It seemed like a famous name. Naruto shrugged it off, letting the camera shutter go crazy to capture many of the tombstones – and names.

He hadn't noticed the sky grow darker.

The center of the cemetery was perhaps the most beautiful.

A large mausoleum, looming and gray, intricately decorated in a fashion that the blond was unfamiliar with stood there. He walked its perimeter, snapping perhaps a dozen images. The path leading up to the doors was fogged, the substance unbelievably thick inches above the dirt-and-gravel trail. Either side of the entrance held large, enflamed torches, crackling in the quiet.

The inscription above the large, black doorway caught his attention and drew Naruto closer. He scrunched his eyebrows together, snapping some images of the doorway.

It was a language he did not know, but he could easily understand.

A tanned hand reached for the ancient door handles.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

Naruto spun around so quickly, he felt a bruise begin to form where his camera had slammed into his chest. He winced and the white-haired man in front of him chuckled.

"Sorry," he grinned. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Who are you?" Naruto eyed the stranger as he hopped off of a wide gravestone.

"Jiraiya," the grin didn't fade. The man called Jiraiya moved closer to Naruto, holding out a wide hand. "I'm the caretaker."

Naruto slowly grasped and firmly shook Jiraiya's hand. "Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

"I know," Jiraiya nodded. "I've been expecting you, Naruto. When you didn't show up, I decided I had better come look for you. It wouldn't do well for Uchiha Manor's guest to become lost on the grounds."

Naruto blushed, grinning sheepishly and scratching the back of his neck – a nervous habit. "Sorry… I uh, got distracted."

Jiraiya shrugged, "It happens. Come on; let's get to the house before it gets too dark."

The tall, white-haired man led Naruto easily back to the entrance. The blond snapped a few more shots on the way, and paused at the gate when he spotted the large, dark truck. He feebly apologized again when Jiraiya lifted his bike into the truck's bed.

Jiraiya laughed – a loud, booming sound – and waved if off as _no trouble at all_.

As soon as he climbed into the passenger's seat, the truck was off, turning around easily in an impossibly small space.

A mile further down the road, the trees broke into a clearing where a tall, dark stone wall outlined the large mansion. Naruto's blue gaze caught a glimpse of the estate through the closed, black-iron gates.

The mansion leered from its cover of gate and tree, ancient bricks white and dirty.

Beyond the gates sat the courtyard. A large fountain – a giant fox with a wide pond of water surrounding it – stood centered between the gates and mansion staircase. As with the rest of the area, trees – though this time tall willows – littered the yard for as far as the blond could see. The large pillars on either side of the entrance, and at each corner of the building, provided perch to large and ominous gothic gargoyles.

Jiraiya parked his truck in the courtyard. "Here we are," doors slammed closed.

Naruto turned in place, gawking. The amused sound from Jiraiya snapped him out of it, and he turned in place again to snap images of the courtyard.

"I hope you have enough film."

"I don't know," Naruto honestly replied. The place was so big, had so much to offer! He couldn't possibly cover the whole place in – he looked at his watch, mouth gaping. Had he really been in the cemetery for so long? It was five-o'clock; he was supposed to be there at two. Time left him three hours to explore the mansion, take his photographs, and get home for dinner.

"Don't worry about the time," Jiraiya commented. He motioned toward the door. "Come on, I'll show you around a bit."

As Naruto followed, a thought occurred to him. He eyed the large, white-haired man. "You don't seem like a caretaker."

Jiraiya laughed. "No, I suppose not. But I've been taking care of this place for a long time. Lord Uchiha was a friend of mine, and as pretty much the only person he trusted, he asked me to do this." He grinned sideways at the blond, "besides, I like the kid pretty well. And taking care of this place really doesn't take as much as you would think. The kid likes it this way."

"The kid?" a blond brow arched with curiosity and Jiraiya grinned wider.

"The new owner of this place. He's about your age, so I call him kid. He trusts me, just like his grandfather did, so I get away with it most of the time."

They walked through the large wooden doors into an even larger entrance hall. Naruto stopped in his tracks. Intricately designed with gold and red and dark wood, the hall held a staircase in its center, leading up to the second story's left and right wings, Naruto guessed. He quickly brought the camera to his eye for photographs.

The chandelier on the ceiling and the many candles along the walls cast a warm glow around the room, surprising Naruto with the comfortable heat that warmed his flesh, and illuminated the room and sparkled off of every gold, metal and glass item.

Jiraiya waited patiently.

"This is beautiful."

"It is," Jiraiya agreed. "The rest of the house is much more luxurious." He gestured toward a doorway to his left, "Shall we?"

The next room held couches, chairs, tables and a large fireplace. A smaller chandelier draped from the ceiling's center, a wide mirror hovered above the fireplace mantle, and framed paintings decorated each of the other walls, separated by windows and doorways.

The blond gaped again, "What is this, a huge living room?"

Jiraiya cleared his throat, a small bit of his laugh escaping, "I suppose, yes, you could call it a 'living room.' This is one of many."

The camera shutter clicked, echoing through the room.

"This place is too big," Naruto muttered, following his guide through another door.

They wandered through a dozen other rooms, ranging from dens to bedrooms, before a loud rumble made Jiraiya laugh and Naruto blush.

"Sounds like it's time to detour to the Dining Hall." Jiraiya led Naruto through a series of hallways and down a set of stairs to ground level, where they turned to walk through a set of double-doors. "Welcome, Uzumaki Naruto, to the Dining Hall. Please, have a seat,"Jiraiya gestured to the long table, lavishly decorated with steaming plates of food and candlesticks in the center of the giant room.

The place was beginning to overwhelm him, and Naruto had a feeling he hadn't even seen a quarter of it.

As he sat, he admired the room. Wide, long, gold with a crystalline chandelier drifting high above the table, paintings, a fireplace, mirrors on the walls, and candle sticks along the perimeter; a beautiful room, just like any of the others.

Jiraiya sat near him.

"Are there a lot of parties here?"

Loading up a plate, Jiraiya shrugged. "There used to be. After… well, after something terrible happened, all of the balls were canceled." He started eating, ignoring the clicks of his guest's camera shutter.

"What happened?"

"Eat. You're hungry, remember?"

As if to whole-heartedly agree, the blonde's stomach rumbled again. Without hesitation, he dug in, only vaguely wondering where all the food conveniently came from when he was so hungry.

They spent an hour in the Dining Hall, Naruto wolfing down food like a starved hyena and Jiraiya filling his ears with light chatter about the home. When the blond finally fell back in his chair, belly bulging with satisfaction, Jiraiya cleared his throat.

"Well, you have around another hour before you should return home, and I have a bit of work to attend to. Feel free to wander around here and photograph anything else you would like to get tonight, and don't worry about getting lost. This may be a huge place, but I can find anyone easily."

Before Naruto could let out his response, Jiraiya walked to the doors and out of the hall.

Naruto looked around for a minute, taking in his surroundings and wondering where to start. The far corner of the Dining Hall-slash-Ballroom held an intriguing set of French doors. Up close, the wood appeared to be the same dark wood from everywhere else in the mansion.

With the curiosity of a photographer, Naruto grabbed his bag and camera, and left through those doors.

The balcony, like everything, sat long, wide and open past the doors. A staircase on either side led down to the terrace beyond.

The garden stood at the stone steps end, lush green bushes of leaves, flowers, decorative trees and exotic vegetation illuminated by unusually bright torches. Naruto photographed it all, completely in awe, before moving on.

The next piece he found consisted of many trees, a different variation from the surrounding forest. Sakura trees mixed with willows, oranges, peaches and red-leafed maples. His path split into different directions, Naruto chose a path that wound him through the trees, out into an open portion of the terrace, full of lush grass, gravel paths and scattered trees; torch light danced across every surface.

Naruto strayed from the path to a large and old tree, a rope-and-plank swing dangling from its branches. He slowly, carefully sat on it, weary of the old rope; but as he kicked into a swing, he smiled lightly. Though old, the rope held sturdy as the day it was purchased.

He swung gently, eyes closed, until Jiraiya silently found him.

"I thought you would be here."

Naruto started, nearly falling backward. He smiled sheepishly, "Is it okay that I'm here?"

"Of course; you have access to any room, inside or out. Come on, I'll take you home."

Naruto followed down a different path, this one guiding them around to the front courtyard where Jiraiya's large truck waited, black and blending in with its surroundings in the dim light.

The drive back to Konoha took a considerably shorter amount of time, half an hour by vehicle compared to the two on bike. Jiraiya turned at intervals and pulled up alongside Naruto's home in minutes.

The front door opened and Iruka stood in the doorway, arms folded and features frowning.

"Your brother?"

"Adopted father," Naruto winced, glancing at Iruka. Kakashi appeared in the doorway behind Iruka, and Naruto sighed. "Him too."

Jiraiya hopped out of his truck, Naruto slipping out after, and pulled the blonde's bike down.

"Kakashi," Jiraiya nodded his greeting.

"Jiraiya."

"You know each other?" Naruto looked between the two in surprise.

"Past acquaintances," Kakashi shrugged. "Still playing housekeeper?"

An amused laugh replied. Jiraiya turned to Naruto, "I'll pick you up at about eight-o'clock tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Iruka finally spoke. He looked confused, between Jiraiya and Naruto.

"Of course," Jiraiya smiled. "It would take at least two days to get all the photographs he needs." He waved lightly, wishing them good night and running back to his truck.

As he rumbled away, Naruto walked his bike to the garage.

Iruka sighed, "Dinner is ready, Naruto."

"I already ate," the blond called back, disappearing through the garage door.

"Kakashi…" his voice shuddered, mind roving over thoughts of the white-haired man and what his appearance meant. A hand gently gripped his shoulder, sliding from one across to the other in a reassuring embrace.

"Don't worry about it, Iruka." Kakashi watched thoughtfully after the blonde, "Jiraiya is at the house, but that doesn't mean that _they_are… So don't worry about anything."

With another sigh, Iruka walked through the open doorway.

Kakashi turned his back to the door, staring off down the road, a frown crossing his hidden lips. "Nothing to worry about," he muttered to himself in a sigh. "…Yet."

- - -  
**T**o**B**e **C**ontinued...  
- - -

**Notes:**I wanted this to be a long chapter, but it didn't agree. Oh well xD My plan for this story is to write it 'in bulk' or post it in bulk, whatever. I don't know how long the story line will be but I have an estimated of no fewer than 13-20 chapters, and no more than 35, but that all depends on the story itself. Unless I randomly change my mind, chapters will not be posted without one or two chapters already written afterward. Meaning I won't post if it's the only chapter I have, but I will wait until I'm a couple of chapters into the story. If I decide to change my mind, however, it'll be up and chapter 2 will be in the works xD Next chapter status posted below these notes, in italics.

_Ch. 2 complete. Posted: December 11, 2007_

Please review! Give me criticism and encouragement, I often thrive on it… pathetic, I know.


	2. Piano Sonata

**Allusion to Midnight**  
By Kreyana

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, obviously. If I did, I think we all know what sasunaru would have been doing very early on…

**Summary:** After six centuries, Uchiha Sasuke finds himself surrounded with friends, but without the one person he needs; until he finds sixteen year old Uzumaki Naruto. But things with this boy are never what they really appear. SasuNaru

**NOTE Please read** I would like to know something, so _**please review and answer these questions**_ Is the first chapter interesting? Does it start out a bit boring? What should I change about it? Do I need to revert to first-person (personal – I – pronouns) PoV? xD I hate that, but it seems to currently be the only way I can write my original stuff… blegh. **Thank you! And please enjoy. **

**Another Note for you!** Alrighty now, people. Sorry that took so long, schoolwork and general procrastination took over for a bit but now we're back in business. Ahead here, we have the next installment of_ Allusion to Midnight_, and we do so very much hope it is to your liking (and worth the wait!) At the end of this chapter, you will find the progress report for the next chapter. Now, carry on, and please do enjoy!

**Update:** The _Jiraya_ versus _Jiraiya_ spelling errors from the last chapter have been fixed, and next-chapter status updated with post date, (not that any of you care!)

- - -  
**C**.h.a.p.t.e.r**2  
P**iano**S**onata  
- - -

A light knock resounded from the bedroom door and Naruto replied with an equally light grant of entrance. Kakashi slipped in, closing the door to lean on it with arms folded across his chest. He watched the blond as Naruto fiddled around on his laptop.

"Uchiha Manor, huh."

Keys quietly clicked through the room. "Um, yeah," Naruto muttered, distracted.

Kakashi stood there, waited for the blonde's brain to kick in and the questions to fly.

The clicking stopped. Naruto shifted in his chair to look back at his teacher. "How do you know of Uchiha Manor?" His deep blue eyes were filled with excitement, and Kakashi couldn't help the small chuckle.

"I've spent some time around the place," he admitted.

"You know the owner?" the blond nearly vibrated with excitement toward his newfound live-source. His father-slash-teacher shrugged.

"One Uchiha is like the next, really."

Naruto turned back to his laptop. "I was curious about some history. That place is so old…" he drifted off into his thoughts and Kakashi continued to wait. "I know that name," the blond turned back to his visitor, "But I don't know how, so I was checking." His brow ruffled, as it always did when he was confused. "The Uchiha's aren't in any history books."

"Is that so?"

Kakashi's indifference annoyed Naruto; he glared. "Otou…"

Kakashi's exposed eye twitched, and he sighed. "All right," he moved to Naruto's bed. "Ambush me."

The computer chair turned fully around, Naruto propped eagerly on its edge. "Who are the Uchiha's? When was the mansion built? How long have you know Jiraiya? The owner? What stopped all of the balls – that 'event' Jiraiya mentioned?"

Kakashi easily absorbed it all. None of the questions seemed to surprise him. He hummed in thought. "You know that most families have been around for hundreds of years; well the Uchiha's have been around for thousands."

Naruto's brow creased, "That's a long time."

"It is," Kakashi nodded in agreement. "The Uchiha's are an ancient family. For centuries, they were large – whole nations of Uchiha's. The bloodline stayed strong for years. Festivals celebrated the first Uchiha's, their conquests and lives. When a new Uchiha was born, the child was celebrated as well. Over time, the family began to dwindle down. The mansion you visited today was constructed in the early eleventh century, following the event of a plague that devastated the bloodline. The cemetery at Uchiha Manor is the resting place of many Uchiha's, close friends and distant relatives.

"I have known Jiraiya for many years; the current owner of Uchiha Manor is around your age and I've met him a few times in the past; and I can't really say what happened to stop the balls, because it was over six hundred years ago."

Naruto frowned – Kakashi hadn't given much of an explanation, and certainly not as much as he'd wanted. He just knew that his teacher-slash-father was keeping something from him.

Kakashi, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content with his explanation. The odd high school teacher stood from Naruto's bed and stretched lazily. "Well, time for some shut-eye," he muttered. The blond frowned as he followed Kakashi with his eyes. "Naruto," Kakashi paused, hand on the doorknob, to look back at him. He apprised the blond for a quiet moment. "Get to bed soon. Jiraiya means what he says." He paused again, thoughtfully scratching his mask-covered chin with a finger, "Though he is often late…"

"Hai, oyasuminasai."

Kakashi muttered a quiet good night reply as he closed the door behind him. Naruto sighed, turning back to his laptop. What Kakashi told him wasn't useless, but it also wasn't much. What was Kakashi hiding? With a dismissive shrug, he typed up what he'd been told and crawled, suddenly exhausted, into his wide bed.

- - -

At seven-thirty A.M. Naruto's annoying little alarm went off. The shrill noise made him groan and twist around in bed, pulling a pillow over his head as a hand slammed down on the poor, innocent black-metal-and-red-electronic-numbered clock. His one-third-conscious state was quickly fading back to full sleep mode when another annoying occurrence added itself to his morning.

Someone knocked on his door.

The blond photographer muttered bitterly, grumbling for the annoyance to 'go the hell away, he needed his beauty sleep!'

Instead of leaving him alone, the door opened and a displeased throat cleared. "Naruto, if you don't get up now, you'll never be ready in time and Jiraiya will have to wait for you."

Sapphire eyes glared through sleep-fog from beneath a blood-red pillow. Unfortunately for Naruto, his glares never had worked on Iruka.

Or Kakashi.

Damn them.

"Breakfast is getting cold," Iruka taunted.

Those sapphire eyes brightened slightly. "What is it?"

"What do you think it is?"

"Not ramen?"

Iruka smirked, shaking his head in mock-disappointment.

Naruto groaned, securing the pillow over his eyes. If breakfast wasn't ramen, it wasn't worth getting out of bed…

"Ten minutes, Naruto, and you won't get anything," Iruka threw over his shoulder on his way out of the room.

The blond threw back an inarticulate _meh_.

…Had Iruka said something about 'late' and 'Jiraiya?'

Oh. Right.

He shot out of bed, nearly smacking into his closet door in his hurry.

His shower was the shortest he'd ever taken, and within those ten minutes graciously given to him, Naruto was down in the kitchen, hair lightly dripping with excess water he'd missed. He sat at the table, all but inhaling the cold pancakes that awaited him.

Iruka shook his head disgustedly, muttering about annoying, messy teenage boys.

Naruto rushed back up to his room to gather his photography equipment. Camera, check; more film, check; cell phone, check.

Five minutes to eight-o'clock, Naruto sat on the freezing cement steps outside, bouncing his leg impatiently. He impulsively checked his wristwatch every few seconds. At five-past-eight, Naruto sighed. "I could have slept more," he grumbled bitterly, lazily toeing a medium-sized pebble around in front of him.

He looked up at the familiar rumbling in the distance. Sapphire eyes glared darkly at the black truck as it parked in front of his walkway, and the white-haired man stepped out, calling a far too cheery greeting.

"You're late," Naruto frowned at Jiraiya's laugh.

"Sorry kid, had something to do. You're obviously ready, so let's get going!"

Feeling particularly malicious toward the now-seemingly-in-a-hurry man, Naruto every so slowly stood, stretched, slung his bag over his shoulder and trudged down the sidewalk.

He only succeeded in amusing the Ero-sennin, as he'd just deemed to call him. He didn't really know why, but the nickname felt right. Naruto hopped up into the passenger seat, setting his bag between his feet, and buckled in. The truck's heater was on medium-high and felt blissfully wonderful in contrast to the cool autumn air.

"What did you have to do?" the blond wondered as Jiraiya started down the road.

"Hmmm," Jiraiya thought for a full minute.

Really, who had to think for such a long time to answer such a simple question?

"The kid had an errand for me," the Ero-sennin answered.

Naruto stared over at him incredulously. "That's it? You had to think about answering that you had an errand?"

The older man just shrugged with a grin.

Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes and turning to look outside the passenger window again. Minutes rolled past, with the thick trees outside, in silence.

"Is he there?"

The sudden question surprised Jiraiya, "Who?"

"_'The kid,'_" the blonde's tone clearly said duh.

"Ah. No, not at the moment."

Naruto pouted with disappointment.

The truck pulled up into the circular drive and stopped, but the engine didn't cut off. Naruto loosened his seatbelt, looking questioningly toward Jiraiya as he grabbed his bag.

"You're on your own today, kid," the man grinned, nodding toward the mansion. "It's not locked, and like I said yesterday – you're allowed anywhere you want. I have some things I still need to do."

"Errands?" Naruto guessed. Jiraiya nodded a confirmation and Naruto sighed. "All right. Thanks, Jiraiya. When will I–"

"Around noon, I think. Maybe later," he shrugged. "Don't hurt yourself – or anything else," he teased.

Naruto slammed the door.

- - -

He'd toured the East Wing yesterday, and explored the back yard. So, today belonged to the rooms of the West Wing. Naruto stamped up the entryway's marble steps, curving left with the banister at the top. He paused to ready his camera, securing the strap around his neck, bag slung back over his opposite shoulder to rest behind him.

This hall was different. Instead of the normal tile or marble, as with the others, a plush maroon carpet stretched from the landing all the way back as far as he could see. Periodically placed desks mounted with vases, lamps, and an occasional telephone lined the walls. Between them, several doors broke the flat crème of the walls. Some doors, not surprisingly, were locked while others stood open.

Naruto filmed bathrooms, guest rooms, and even one particularly magnificent closet - stocked floor-to-ceiling with white and colored linens, towels, bathrobes, and toiletries. It reminded him of a spa storage room.

One deep mahogany door made him pause. It could have been locked, looked like a room that _would_ be. The wood was dark stained grain with the usual Uchiha signia carved in its surface. He'd seen many of these doors. There wasn't anything particularly different about the door, but Naruto could _feel_ something. When he touched the door, pushed it open, his skin shivered. When he went _into_ the room, his skin adjusted to a point of discomfort that became actual _pain_. He ignored that pain to the best of his ability, because his photographer-instinct told him that this room was something he could not miss out on.

Naruto took as many pictures of that room as he could, at least two dozen that spanned around the room, before he dashed out. He threw himself against the wall, sucking a deep breath into his clenching lungs and closing his eyes. The door slammed shut after him, whether from his haste or another force, he had no idea. Naruto continued down the hallway.

There was only really one word that could describe that room; _evil_. He couldn't help wondering who that room once belonged to.

The next that Naruto wandered into had an opposite effect upon the blond. A large sense of comfort shimmied down his spine within the deep blue walls. The pale blue bed at the left corner of the room looked invitingly comfortable, and Naruto had to remind himself to take photos. The desk directly across from the door sat beneath a wide, pale-blue curtained window. A modernized metallic lamp sat on the desktop, a bottle of ink and a modernized feather pen set out next to it, and a small stack of books took up the left hand side.

Naruto photographed the left, middle, and right sides of the room, once again wondering who he was intruding upon.

A door on the right, upon investigation, connected that room to another. Naruto gaped through the doorway. Despite its old fashion, this room mirrored his own almost _exactly_.

Black walls, dark curtains, dark desk, black and red bed linens - Naruto shook himself from the surprise. Striding to the window, he pulled open the curtains to allow light into the room. He photographed every inch, and when he moved on, his mind lingered.

Add the electrical conveniences of modern-day Japan, and that room would be an _exact duplicate_ of his own.

Or was _his_ room the duplicate?

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Naruto pushed open a door to the next room. This one was exactly like the last in that it evoked the strange sense of familiarity. The bed, centered directly across from the door, took up more room than any of the others he'd seen thus far. The room was much larger as well, and completely black.

Black curtains, black carpet, black walls, black linens; deep mahogany bedposts, desks and shelves with each book cover a matching dark shade.

It was a room he could like; a room he _did_ like, in fact. The high-tech computer that sat atop the mahogany desk only helped to appeal to the blond. He wondered what programs the contraption held - what its owner intended it for. Such a beautiful piece of black and blue plastic ingeniousness could hardly ward away a creature as curious as Naruto for long.

But as he drew closer to the computer, his hand hovering over the cool mixture of metal and plastic, something faint made him stop.

In the distance, a small tune drifted to his ears. The melody drew him from the bedroom and down a hall to the left. That sound was faint for nearly three hallways, before it became clearer in his right ear. Naruto moved slowly down that hallway. The nearest door, ten paces from his turn, was open a crack and the light sound emanated from it.

As he drew nearer, the song's final note was struck, and vibrated into silence.

Naruto pushed open the door.

In the center of that room stood an empty, black Grand piano that still hummed with the final note.

This room was bright. The far wall consisted purely of window, and Naruto walked over to it. His hand hovered inches away from the glass surface as he looked out. Beyond the glass wall loomed the large garden, misted in an unnatural fog. He had a perfect, clear view of the tree swing he'd found yesterday.

Another of the walls consisted of mirrors, which helped explain the room's brightness, and glass ornaments hovered from the ceiling, all around. These ornaments ranged from spheres to spirals, and all clear as water.

He liked this room, but it also made him a little uneasy. The room was _too_ familiar to him, even more so than those bedrooms. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Naruto set to photographing the amazingly light, musical room.

- - -

By 2 p.m. that after noon, Naruto had finished photographing the Uchiha Manor and returned home, where he proceeded to lock himself in the basement. When he'd first picked up photography, the dark, damp area had immediately been confiscated and morphed into the perfect developing room.

He developed his photographs beginning with the last and ending with the first, so that they were more easily organized into his assignment folder. When he reached the photographs of that mausoleum, he paused on the entrance picture. Again, the language above the door was unfamiliar, but again he could understand it. The letters were not based on any previously written language in the world, yet it was obviously old.

_Love lost doth rest beyond, stolen on this sacred night; Offered sanctuary before the final stroke, so the soul might find peace._

What did that mean? With a sigh, he continued to the very first photograph, and loaded them all into a manila envelope.

It was time to hand them over to his boss.

- - -

A large, thick manila envelope thumped heavily on her desk, and Tsunade glared darkly from beyond the rim of a mug. Her youngest employee, Uzumaki Naruto, flashed a bright grin, and unceremoniously fell into one of the seats in front of her desk.

Tsunade set her mug down and leaned back into her chair, boredly eying the thick envelope. "So, you've finished photographing Uchiha's place, then?"

Obviously.

She ignored any response the blond gave - or would have, had he even bothered to try - and reached for that atrocious, invading object. She pulled out the stack of photos and flipped through them, one at a time. "You certainly did go crazy," she muttered.

"Tsunade-baa-chan, why did I get this assignment anyway?"

Her eye twitched. Why on_Earth_ did he insist on calling her 'grandma'?! She wasn't even half of-

"Tsunade-sama."

_Sigh_. Uchiha would not be happy with her, if he heard about this... "Uchiha requested you photograph his home, personally."

"Uchiha? ...But why?"

Tsunade shrugged indifferently. "He didn't tell me everything, you know."

The blond fell back in his chair and huffed, glaring across the wide desk.

"What?! You enjoyed the opportunity, didn't you?"

Naruto looked away, his face falling into indifference. After a moment of distant, shifting eyes, he nodded. "Yeah. I like that place a lot."

"It's no surprise, really," Tsunade muttered. When blue eyes turned up to look questioningly at her, she changed the topic. "So now that I have these, you're done. I'm sorry to make you work during your weekend off. Go home, have dinner, get some rest - and get your ass to school on time tomorrow!"

The blond teen chuckled, waving her off as he pushed out of the chair and made his way to the door. "Hai, hai. See ya later, Baa-chan."

He snickered as the murderous glare burned through the office door's wood and into his back.

- - -

Monday morning, Naruto was, not unusually, late to wake up, late to dress, late to eat, and late to school.

He flopped into his desk seat, sinking down low enough to just barely be able to peek over the tabletop. His first class was with Kakashi-sensei, who, like Naruto, was always late. Except that Kakashi-sensei was always _much_ later than the blond, and he didn't exactly want to know why. It'd been years since Iruka quit teaching grade-school, so that excuse was out-the-window.

"Yo." Kiba hopped onto Naruto's desk, setting his jean-clad thigh eye-level with the blond. He snickered as Naruto shot up straight in his seat, gagging. "I'm hurt," he mock-sniffled, and laughed again as a punch aimed its way toward his shoulder. "Have a good weekend?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, great." Kiba knew perfectly well that he was working the entire time. "Actually," he amended, "it really was a lot of fun. You have no _idea_ how huge that Uchiha place is!"

Just as Kiba opened his mouth, the classroom door burst open and in strode their teacher. "Good morning, class!" Kakashi greeted, _far_ too happy. "Inuzaki, kindly get your ass off of Uzumaki's desk and into your own seat," he said, without as much as a glance in their direction.

With a roll of his eyes, Kiba did as told.

"Today is a very interesting day," Kakashi propped himself against his desk, positioned at the front-and-center of the classroom. "Today, we have a new student. Anti-social bastard that he is," a few snickers rang throughout the classroom (and should the principle hear Kakashi refer to any student in such an informal manner, the man would have his head,) "please do your best to make him feel welcomed. Come in."

With that, the new student entered the classroom.

Excited whispers rose in the room, mostly from the girls. Most consisted of _He's so cute!,_ and _Do you think he would go out with me?_

The new kid ignored them all, staring blankly toward the ground as he bowed. "Uchiha, Sasuke desu," he quietly voiced. More squeals rose in the room.

As Naruto discretely stared at the new student, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew him. Every inch of the dark haired teen screamed _familiar_… _**lover.**_ Naruto flushed. How could he think that about a boy he hadn't even _met_ yet?

The new kid's eyes turned from the floor to the blond, black locking forcefully with surprised blue – as if Naruto had called out his name. A small, devious smirk pulled up the corners of his lips. His eyes conveyed silently to Naruto that he_ knew_.

The feeling that the new kid knew _exactly_ what Naruto had thought, churned in his stomach.

- - -  
**T**o**B**e **C**ontinued...  
- - -

**Notes:**Okie dokie… So uh… Yeah I'm taking a while to get this stuff done. But that's mostly because I'm multitasking xD 1- working somewhat on my very first manuscript (wohoo.) 2- until about November 27th I have stories to write for my Fiction Workshop class (Finals will be complete on the 18th,) and 3- my muses pounce on me at the _worst_ times imaginable… almost always after 10 PM, weekday. You have **no **idea how often I try to sleep and end up writing in my mind xD when will they invent those mind recorders/ Like the thingies in FF-Spirits Within (been ages since I've actually seen it…) Oh well! I'm workin.

_Ch. 3 is in progress._

Please review! Give me criticism and encouragement, I often thrive on it… pathetic, I know.

**Update:** Important info for all of y'all who love this story and/or want to know a little bit more before you actually get to! **I have decided to write a companion fic!** Yes, a real, live companion fic to this lil piece of work right here! This companion fic will tell you some of what you'd like to know about that Secret Event dear Jiraiya is skirting around, and it will follow Sasuke (vaguely at least) through the six hundred years between the event, and cover AtM up until the end of this chapter. It'll probably be 1 or 2 chapters, no idea as of yet. And, in case any of you were wondering wtf is with this title, this companion fic will give meaning to this story's title! Yay. So, let me know how badly you want this! (If you do… I'm doing it either way, though)


	3. Classmate

**Allusion to Midnight**  
By Kreyana

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, obviously. If I did, I think we all know what sasunaru would have been doing very early on… I do, however, own Rory/Lorelai.

**Summary:** After six centuries, Uchiha Sasuke finds himself surrounded with friends, but without the one person he needs; until he finds sixteen year old Uzumaki Naruto. But things with this boy are never what they really appear. SasuNaru

**Notes:**So! Wow. Not many reviews here, huh? But on the other hand, if you could see my Hits and Alerts! Wow. As of December 12, 2007, the number of hits was **1,196**, and **49** alerts. I was pretty shocked at how fast those two numbers were shooting up, and on the first day! And only one person thus far has made it obvious that they've read my notes, and answered the questions. Thank you! And I'd like to point out that the Companion Fic is currently up here –taps head– and a little bit on paper. When I get that done, rest assured that I will mention it visibly in my intro notes.

- - -  
**C**.h.a.p.t.e.r**3  
C**lassmate  
- - -

"Take the empty desk behind Uzumaki," Kakashi commented as he hopped up to the chalkboard.

The new student, Uchiha Sasuke, quietly moved down the aisle and sat behind Naruto, never once taking his eyes from the blond.

An incessant shiver slithered up and down Naruto's spine all through the class session. Goosebumps periodically covered his flesh, and his stomach churned.

When the bell rang, he was the first out of the room and down the hall. He stopped in the bathroom, bracing himself against one of the sinks and taking in deep breaths. Behind him, the door opened, and he stiffened for a second as another body came in.

A hand fell on his shoulder as the other spoke, "Hey, you okay, Naruto?"

A relieved breath rushed from his lungs, "I'm fine, Kiba."

"You sure? You were tense all through class. Is it because of Uchiha? He was staring at you the entire time."

"Yeah-no... I don't know," Naruto sighed, shrugging off the hand as he turned on the tap. He splashed cold water on his face and dried off with the paper towel that Kiba handed him. "Thanks."

Kiba nodded in response. "Come on, we'd better not be late. Kurenai-sensei will have our heads."

Naruto laughed nervously - Kurenai-sensei really _would_ have their heads if they were late again.

- - -

Nearly two hours later, Naruto sat in the boy's locker room as he dressed for his Physical Education class. Beside him, Shikamaru leaned lazily against the lockers and yawned at their friends' conversation.

Whatever it was, Naruto did not know, nor did he care. His mind had deemed such a menial task as dressing, quite a useful time to think. He'd felt sick, after that first class, with Uchiha Sasuke staring at him the whole time. Kiba had told him, sure; but Naruto had known all along, because it was nearly impossible to ignore that feeling - the one where you _know_ someone is watching you, but have no idea_why_.

Then there was the matter of that other feeling. When he saw Sasuke, not only had his body - his _mind_ - told him 'lover,' but so had his heart.

It flopped around uneasily in his chest again, and his stomach churned once more.

"Naruto."

He blinked from his thoughts, and looked quizzically to the speaker.

Kiba frowned, "Are you ready?"

"Oh, yeah." The blond hopped up, a grin in place, and followed Shikamaru and Choji. Kiba walked beside him, and Naruto did his best to ignore the worried look his friend gave him. He offered the brunet a reassuring smile as they stepped out to the field.

His heart lurched in his chest as he felt _that_ gaze on him again. Glancing inconspicuously toward the rest of the class, Sapphire met Onyx. Naruto quickly looked away, flushing red.

Those eyes seemed to always speak volumes to him, without conveying actual words or thoughts. And, that time, those eyes smirked at him.

When he glanced back, the Uchiha was not looking at him, but rather he was spending their wait time stretching, and Naruto felt a pang of disappointment.

Disappointment? He frowned, unconsciously staring at Sasuke. What was wrong with him? He didn't even _know_ this Uchiha Sasuke, but he was feeling such strange emotions... He shouldn't be feeling anything, least of all _disappointment_-

"Good morning!" suddenly resounded around them, loud and as annoying as ever. Their far-too-optimistic teacher, Guy-sensei, bounced onto the scene in his usual, horrifyingly green-spandex getup.

Naruto sighed, a groan bubbling up his throat as the class dully replied.

"Uchiha-san, welcome to Konoha High!"

Naruto glanced to the mentioned teen, who only replied with an acknowledging nod.

"Today," Guy-sensei began pacing in front of the class, "we will be running."

Mortified groans rose from the majority of girls, and some guys, while whoops of joy rang from others. Naruto grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Guy-sensei stopped pacing in front the Uchiha, a look of praise on his face. "Uchiha-san, I hear you are quite the sprinter." A slight nod replied, again, and Guy-sensei moved to a few paces front-and-center of the grouped students. "Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san, please come forward."

Naruto's heart leaped nervously within his chest at the call of his name, right there with the new kid's. He stepped out of the crowd, stopping several feet away from Uchiha.

"Now, Uzumaki-san is our fastest student in decades. I would like the two of you to run _together_ during this exercise. If you're as fast as I hear, Uchiha-san, then Uzumaki-san will finally not have to pace himself so far below his standards! Now, everyone line up!"

The whistle went off, suddenly overriding the pounding in Naruto's ears, and he took off. Halfway down the track, Naruto glanced to his side, where Uchiha Sasuke watched him from the corner of his dark eyes. The other kept pace with Naruto, easily, it seemed, and a smirk pulled at the corner of his lips.

"Is that all you have?"

A grin slowly spread across Naruto's lips, and he pushed on, sprinting in a near-blur past some classmates. The wind lashing at his face, the dirt ground thumping beneath his feet, the pounding of his heart, and the steady rhythm of his breath brought a brighter smile to his face. Running at this _natural_ speed gave the blond a sense of peace he did not normally feel. And this peace, he realized, he only noticed because, at _that_ moment, even with the Uchiha running at his side, Naruto didn't feel the previous nervousness the raven stirred within him.

This pleasant moment was ruined as Naruto slipped on a rock.

With a cry that was a mixture of pain and surprise, Naruto trotted, then hopped, as his momentum decreased. He fell to his rear where he stopped, and stared blankly at his throbbing ankle.

The Uchiha knelt beside him, one hand hovering near his shoulder. Naruto glanced to his partner, but the other was focused on his ankle.

Guy-sensei jogged over to them, his face unusually serious. "What happened?"

Naruto looked up at him, still blank, and distantly answered, "I slipped." His answer really did sound very dumb, even in his own ears, but his sensei only nodded and squatted down to examine his ankle.

"Let's see, here," he gently prodded Naruto's ankle with a finger, frowning at the hiss that followed. "Uchiha-san, would you please take Uzumaki-san to the nurse's office?" With the raven's silent nod, Guy smiled and backed out of the way, back to his usual self. "You're both excused for the rest of class. Excuse me," he wandered off to ward away curious and gaping students. "Nothing is wrong, keep going! Inuzuka, get moving, before I decide that three laps around school campus is a spectacular idea!"

The hand that hovered near Naruto's shoulder finally touched him, and slid across his back to the opposite shoulder. Sasuke's other arm slipped beneath Naruto's knees, and without any difficulty, he hauled the blond into his arms as he stood.

Naruto lightly flushed, looking anywhere but at the raven. "Ah... you don't have to do that, Uchiha-sa-"

"Sasuke."

He blinked, looked to the other with surprise, though Sasuke didn't glance down to him. "Huh?"

"Don't call me 'Uchiha.' My name is Sasuke."

"Okay... Sasuke-sa-"

"Don't be so formal, Naruto."

For some unknown reason, the sound of his name from Sasuke's lips made the blond shiver, and deepened his light blush. He looked away quickly in an attempt to hide it. "Hai, Sasuke."

When they approached the infirmary door, Naruto lightly rapped on its surface and pushed it open after the quiet grant of entrance from the other side.

"Hello, what may I do for you tod-" the all too familiar voice stopped mid-word, and Naruto gaped in surprise.

"Sakura?!"

Said pink-haired girl rolled her eyes, "No, I'm her evil twin that no one knew about." She glared at the blond for a moment, and huffed out something that sounded suspiciously like, _I should have known I'd see you here sooner or later, clumsy little-_ though he couldn't be positive. With another huff and her hands propped on her hips, Sakura scrutinized the duo.

Naruto felt silly there, in the new kid's arms, and tried to hold back the resulting heat to his cheeks.

"Set him over there, please," Sakura said with a nod of her head toward one of the medical slabs they liked to call beds.

The Uchiha did as instructed, setting Naruto onto one of the thinly cushioned platforms, and he quietly waited, seemingly perfectly happy to keep one supporting hand on the blond's back.

Sakura returned to them with a clipboard and pen in hand, scribbling on the blank form. She set that to the side and seemingly gravitated to Naruto's injured leg. "Tell me what happened," she instructed as she separated the bow, and plucked at the laced string. She pulled off the shoe, dropping it carelessly to the floor, and gently peeled off the sock. She visibly winced as she saw the angry, light purple flesh of his ankle.

Naruto let out one of his embarrassed laughs, "Uh..."

"He tripped on a rock while we were running."

It was a stupid thing to do, really. And it shouldn't have hurt him, it hadn't happened before! The truth, so blatantly put out there, made that embarrassed heat rise to prickle at his face.

"How fast?" Sakura didn't break in stride, behaving truly professional.

When the Uchiha didn't provide an answer, Naruto lightly sighed. "Um... I'm not sure. Saskue's in my league, though, so Guy-sensei set us up as running partners..."

Sakura glanced up, to Sasuke, and back to Naruto with an arch of her brow. "You were going as fast as you can?"

The blond shrugged, "I guess. You know I don't pay attention to that when I run..."

Sakura made a sound - good, bad, impressed; Naruto didn't know which it was. He gasped and groaned as Sakura began to prod at his ankle. As if it hadn't hurt enough as it was, she had to go along and make it worse! The sharp pain slithered up his leg and made Naruto clench together his teeth.

Sakura muttered a slight apology, but continued to feel around the appendage, pausing every now and then to look over some chart on her clipboard. She finally let out an obviously happy noise, and relinquished Naruto's ankle to it's undisturbed throbbing.

"It's not broken," she informed with a smile up to him. "Though if it were, I imagine it would have looked pretty nasty." She wandered away from the bed, and returned a minute later with supplies in hand.

She first sat a bag of ice on his ankle, and then took a seat at a nearby desk, where she proceeded to scribble on that piece of paper again.

The throbbing of his ankle was somewhat easy to put to the back of his mind, especially with the bag of ice dulling that pain. He had to then wonder when Sasuke's hand had gravitated toward his own, and blushed at the thought that he'd been holding the other's hand for several minutes without notice. After the initial embarrassment of this fact subsided, another important thing came to mind, and he eyed Sakura.

"What are you doing here?"

The young woman, and his close friend, continued to write, completely un-phased by his question. "I'm the Nurse's Aid, Naruto. I want to go to med school when we graduate, so I've been doing some 'field work' here."

Naruto formed a silent _oh_ and was silent again. Before he could say anything else, Sakura stood and removed the ice.

She wrapped his foot in an ankle brace, stuffed his forgotten sock into his shoe, and placed it on the end of the bed. Sakura picked up a small-ish box and handed it to the blond, "You can have this, in case Iruka-sensei doesn't have any wraps at home. You're not to wander around on that foot too much, you won't be participating in PE for a while, and if you argue with me, I _will_ inflict more damage."

It really was scary how she could threaten him with such an innocent smile on her face...

"How long is 'a while'?"

A pair of crutches were then propped against the bed, and Naruto eyed them with a frown. "Don't give them that look, Naruto. You still have to go to school, so you'll have to use these until your ankle is better," Sakura chastised. "With what you've done to it, I'd say that 'a while' is a week or two. It all depends on how you heal."

He tried to protest that, but as he opened his mouth, she continued on.

"Use the wrap compress when you don't want to wear the brace, and when you sleep. It'll be more comfortable. And it's alright to use ice every few hours, but don't use it for more than twenty minutes at a time - Iruka-sensei knows this, and I'll tell him to keep an eye on you!"

There was another threat in there, Naruto had heard it, and he sighed. Sasuke helped Naruto stand, and while Sakura showed him how to use the crutches, picked up the shoe and wrap box.

"See you later, Naruto!" the _but not back in this room_ implied was clear as they left the infirmary.

Their Physical Education class was over, which also meant the school day was complete, but the duo continued back toward the boy's locker room, where their things waited.

"Um, thank you... Sasuke. For helping me today."

"Hn," was all that replied, and silence reigned between them again.

In the locker room, they dressed into their street clothes (a slightly difficult feat for the blond, as he attempted to pull on his pant leg as carefully as he could to avoid jarring his ankle,) and Naruto stuffed his shoe and the bandage box into his bag.

At the front gates to the school, Naruto pasued and awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well... um-"

"Let me walk you home."

"Ah," Naruto straightened, waving his arms in front of himself in a dismissive gesture - and nearly toppled to the pavement, having forgotten completely about his food and the crutches, until Sasuke caught him. He muttered an embarrassed_thanks_. "You don't have to do that-"

He recieved a pointed, _like I'm going to believe you,_ look, and heat rose to his cheeks.

"Well, I mean, ah... I'm not going home. I go to Iruka - my adopted father's café most days. You can... You're welcome to come with me." He laughed, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, "I mean, uh, obviously it's for the public, but still..."

The Uchiha stared at him during the entire, nervous monologue, and once Naruto drifted off, Sasuke motioned for the blond to lead the way.

As the Uchiha turned, Naruto swore he saw a small twitch of his lips, which could have been an amused smile.

- - -

Sasuke arched a brow as they stopped at the café entrance. "Spiral Café?"

"When I was four, Iruka asked me what I thought we should name it." Naruto shrugged, "Apparently I said 'Spiral'…"

"Four?" Sasuke sounded curious, and turned his back to the café.

"Yeah. I've been with Kakashi and Iruka since I can remember." He shrugged again. "They've been really good parents."

Sasuke folded his arms, staring distantly past Naruto.

"Sasuke?" Naruto waved a hand in front of the other's face, and slightly jumped when Sasuke suddenly caught the appendage. "Um… do you want to go in?"

Sasuke let go of Naruto's hand. Without a word, he opened the door and held it for the blond.

The bells rang as the door was held open, and Naruto swung through the doorway on his crutches.

"What happened to you?" The voice was entirely too entertained, and Naruto glowed as he slid into a booth, the crutches propped up nearby and out of the way.

"Nothing," he grumbled, opting to pay attention to the outside world and not his annoying teacher-father, as the Uchiha quietly sat across from him.

"I don't believe you," the silver haired man sing-songed, and hummed as he studied the blond. When Naruto twitched, Kakashi smirked. "Oi, Iruka's in the back."

Naruto shrugged, the comment wasn't very interesting to him. Actually, he probably should have gone straight home instead of the café. Iruka could have quite the temper when it came to Naruto and hurting himself... When he glanced over to Kakashi, the man wasn't watching him, but staring toward his companion.

Naruto glanced across to Sasuke, who was staring right back at their teacher. The blond looked continuously back and forth between the two, his brows scrunching in his confusion, until Sasuke broke eye contact with Kakashi and turned to Naruto.

It was only a second before the Uchiha looked away, closing his eyes with a slight nod.

"I'll see yoou tomorrow, Naruto. Sensei," he nodded to Kakashi as he stood.

The door's bells jingled in his wake.

Naruto frowned after his new classmate, "What was that about?" He turned the frown onto Kakashi as the man took Sasuke's place, and the look didn't seem to phase him at all.

Kakashi shrugged, pulling out his little, orange book. "Had places to be?" he offered. "Who knows. Do your homework."

With a childish raspberry at his surrogate father, Naruto pulled a book from his bag and thumped it down on the table, obediently doing as he was told (for that was how the duo had raised him.)

He would take his sweet time doing it, though.

- - -

Movement in the glass window reflection caught Naruto's eye as he stared out into the dark night, splotched with orange-yellow street lights. He sat there, chin-in-hand, eying Iruka's reflection as it approached his table.

"Get all of your work done?"

He received a dull _mm-hmm_ in reply.

Iruka reached for the crutches, touching them lightly with his fingers. "Sakura called me."

Naruto still didn't move, again replying with his dull _mm-hmm_.

Iruka sighed, falling into the seat across from the blond. "I'm not mad, you know. You slipped, it happens." He shrugged, and folded his hands on the table to wait.

Iruka frowned when Naruto seemed determined to stare out into the darkness.

He sighed, "Naruto."

Finally, the blond turned, confusion written in his features.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, why?"

Iruka teasingly smirked, "When you get quiet, it's time to worry."

Naruto stuck his tongue out in reply, "I was thinking."

It was Iruka's turn to _hmm_. "Shop's closed. Come on, let's go home."

- - -

Naruto sat at his computer when someone knocked on his door and entered the room a second later, without waiting for his reply. The blond turned to his teacher-father, a brow arched.

"Yo," Kakashi grinned, giving the blond a little wave with a pack of ice. "Ice for ya."

"Thanks," Naruto muttered, turning back to his computer.

Kakashi set the ice pack on Naruto's desk and sat on the bed. "Spending time with Uchiha already, are you?" he commented offhandedly.

Naruto shrugged, "Guy-sensei partnered us in gym."

"Hm. Only person that can keep up with you, then."

The blond nodded in reply. "Ah," he suddenly turned to Kakashi, a mild curse under his breath. "I forgot my bike at school."

"It's in the garage." At the confused look, Kakashi explained, "Uchiha brought it after he left the café. Iruka doesn't know, yet."

Naruto frowned, "Doesn't know what? That Sasuke brought my bike home?"

Kakashi sighed. "Doesn't know that Uchiha is back."

"What's the big deal? How do you two even _know_ Uchiha Sasuke in the first place?"

"Past acquaintances," Kakashi replied dismissively. He stood and made his way to the door. "Goodnight, Naruto. Don't stay up too late."

"Kakashi-" the door closed and Naruto frowned. Iruka and Kakashi were hiding something.

And Naruto was determined to find out exactly _what_ that something was.

- - -  
**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued...  
- - -

End Notes: Later than I'd like, but... here we are! I've decided I'm going to try and update monthly xD which is going to be absolute torture to a friend. Heh. Oh well. I absolutely love the response this fic is getting! As of this post date, there are 1564 hits, 30 reviews, and 60 alerts. xD Amazing! Well, I hope you all have enjoyed the chapter. See you in the next! And, of course, as usual... reviews inspire me to work faster!

_Ch. 4 is in progress._


	4. Dreams

**Allusion to Midnight**  
By Kreyana

**Warnings:** Slight cross-dressing…ish… thing in this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, obviously. If I did, I think we all know what sasunaru would have been doing very early on…

**Summary:**_After six centuries, Uchiha Sasuke finds himself surrounded with friends, but without the one person he needs; until he finds sixteen year old Uzumaki Naruto. But things with this boy are never what they really appear. SasuNaru_

**Notes:****This chapter is edited** for the FF.N limitations. If you want to read the full version, please visit my bio, where you can find a link to my livejournal post of this chapter.

- - -  
**C**.h.a.p.t.e.r**4**  
**D**reams  
- - -

Nothing.

Absolute darkness.

No light, no wind, no water, no sound, no _air_.

Was he even breathing?

Yes. He could feel it, the long and shallow breaths his lungs absorbed.

Were his eyes open?

No, it could not be something to take one's sight, because what steals sight would not steal sound; not smell, not wind, not air, not _everything_.

Had something happened to him?

No, he was alive, wasn't broken, he was perfect.

But where was he?

He suddenly saw. Color bled crimson, air filled with iron, the sloshing of water reached his ears and hot liquid soaked his shoes, his pants; stained his flesh.

He looked around, turned in place, panic and something else rising up in him as the red liquid rose to his knees. His stomach churned, bile and fear crept up his esophagus, and the red liquid, that copper-scented wetness, continued to slosh higher and higher up his legs.

The bright red, coppery liquid was filling that room, contained by invisible walls that surrounded him.

Within minutes, it'd risen up to his chin, rising higher still, and he began to tread.

Treading water, but not water.

This stuff wasn't water, wasn't juice; it wasn't _wine_. No water, no juice, no wine, no liquid proper for consumption could have that scent. That copper scent, the salty-iron _taste._

He gasped, and coughed, and sputtered as the liquid began to seep into his mouth and down his throat; it choked him and made his stomach lurch, made him feel so _sick_-

- - -

Naruto lurched upright, gasping for breath, coughing, and covered in a cold sweat. That dream... what the _hell_ was with that dream? What was in that room?

Blood? He gagged, remembering how _real_ it had seemed. Why would he suddenly be dreaming about _blood_?

He sat his arms on his knees, his head in his hands, and breathed. Lung-fulls of cool night air quickly settled the unhappy churning in his stomach, and drove the bile from his throat.

Whatever was going on... it was weird. He shook his head, and lay back with a sigh.

He couldn't smell it anymore, couldn't taste it. Maybe now he could sleep again?

Naruto turned to his side, pulling the covers to his chin, and drifted back to sleep, lulled by the low red glow of his electric clock's numbers.

- - -

He found himself in darkness.

But no, he couldn't be having that dream again... No, no, no, no. Had to be something else, it just _had_ to be-

Music faded into existence, and with it came light. Not white light, it wasn't at all like a blinding, blank room. More like, someone had finally turned on a dim, yellow lamp. That dim light grew brighter, and Naruto suddenly saw that he was surrounded by color.

The music played, and people floated around him like colorful butterflies. Gowns of red, and blue, and yellow, and green... every color imaginable twirled around him in dance with their darker counterparts. Suits of black, and red, and blue, and white... And each wore a mask of gold, or black, silver, or white. Some covered every facial feature, some only around the eyes.

Naruto frowned. The gowns were fifteenth-century; he could tell that much. What kind of strange dream was this?

He caught sight of a young man before him, frowning in confusion. "My Lady?"

...huh? He stared at the other, incredulously.

"My Lady, is something wrong?"

Was this kid blind, or something? What the fu-

The far wall caught Naruto's attention, and he weaved through the dancers, that kid on his heels.

A wall of mirror, just like...

He gaped at his reflection, and again the young man uttered his confusion.

"My Lad-"

- - -

For the second time that night, Naruto was startled awake. He groaned, turning onto his back, and rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. He stared blankly at the ceiling.

He was having some really fucked-up dreams.

Naruto glanced over at the alarm clock. 2:30 am, still four and a half hours until the alarm would go off. With a sigh, Naruto pulled the covers up once again and turned his back on the red numbers.

- - -

He was back in the dream again, but this time...

"My Lady?"

"I'm fine," his voice replied. It was his voice, but it was different. More... feminine. He was still facing the mirrored wall, and so he examined his strange reflection. It was him, but at the same time it wasn't.

His own familiar blue eyes gazed back at him, but from a face that was too thin, too female. His bright blond hair was long, and pulled into a high ponytail. Every lock of hair that fell from that ponytail looped in wide curls, and a portion of it lay over one shoulder. It sat, blond and bright against the deep burgundy of his gown.

Naruto glanced down, and felt a deep blush grow over his cheeks - his, but not the dream-body's. He'd never imagined himself with cleavage, before, never even thought about what he would look like as a woman. He also didn't really know the difference between sizes, but if he were to guess, he would say his female-self's chest had to be at least a double D - whatever that meant. His female-dream-self suddenly spoke to that same young man whom had followed him to the mirror wall earlier.

"Get me a drink."

The young man bowed and left Naruto at the wall. He watched as the young man crossed the room to a long table, filled with refreshments of many types.

With a glance around the hall to all of the dancers, Naruto's female-dream-self glided out of the ballroom and into a hallway. He passed through one hallway, and then two, round and around in a seemingly random turn of corners.

He gunted a surprised _ah!_ as he was suddenly shoved against a wall, a firm body pressed up against him. Panic welled within him, but a greater feeling of aroused anticipation flooded his system and buried the fear.

He groaned as something pressed, hard, into his lower back, and hands gripped his feminine waist.

"My _Lady_," a voice whispered mockingly in his ear, and he heard himself moan in reply to the gruff arousal within that familiar voice. Familiar, but he couldn't think of _who_ it was.

"You look so very... appealing, tonight," the voice husked. Something wet ran along the shell of his ear, while a hand moved up to grope that part of him that was never really his, and small moans were the only response Naruto could give. "Even as a woman, I want to fuck you so bad," his neck was kissed, and licked, and sucked on, and he moaned.

The hand on his hip slid down his thigh to hike up his skirt and slip under the folds. Naruto opened his mouth to emit a high groan as that hand grasped a part of him that he was familiar with - a part that was _normal_. The other man's hand pumped him at a torturous speed, his left hand still groping and tweaking the abnormal breasts, and his lips still sucked on the others' neck.

It was an odd combination, Naruto decided, to have another sucking on his neck, pumping his manhood, and groping unnatural breasts. Oddly pleasurable in the most unique of ways.

The lips against his neck smirked and puled back with a kiss. "Seems it's only made you to be half-and-half," the other gruffed. "Appearance is female, but you're still all man where it counts." He pressed his arousal tight against Naruto's backside, and Naruto nearly flush with the wall. "Tell me," hot breath ghosted over his ear with the words. "Tell me what it is you want."

"I want you," Naruto heard his feminine voice say. "Want you in me... Take me," he panted the words. "Take me so hard. Please."

- - -

An annoying buzz, so familiar that he, for once, welcomed it and despised it, roused Naruto from his third odd dream. He wrinkled his nose at the sticky, wet feeling of his sheets, and sat up with a displeased groan.

That, however, brought a gasp to his throat. Even after so obviously having a wet dream, and his pleasure fulfilled, Naruto was still incredibly aroused.

He squirmed in his bed. He'd never felt so... _wanton_ before. Or ever. The memory of that feeling - of being filled so completely - made his insides pulse with an need he'd never felt in the past twelve years of his life.

Well, only one thing to do now.

It was time for a shower.

- - -

When the school bell rang that morning, the blond had been in his seat for at least fifteen minutes. He grinned at Kiba when the brunet gaped at him, and snickered as the other caused somewhat of a traffic accident in the doorway.

"God, Kiba, it's not the end of the world."

The brunet shook out of the shock and fell into his desk, beside Naruto. "Could have fooled me," he replied. "Man, Naruto. You're _never_ early! What the Hell's up?"

A shrug replied. "I had a weird night."

"Weird, huh?" his friend eyed him for a moment. "Weird how?"

"Just weird." Naruto frowned and sank into his seat, fumbling around with a pen as he avoided his friend and looked out the window. He felt as Kiba frowned at him - the Inuzuka always did when Naruto kept things from him.

"Naruto, you're my best friend. You know you can tell me anything."

The blond turned with a sigh and, after a moment, nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's nothing, Kiba. Really. Just some weird dreams-"

And with that one word, he felt that painfully familiar gaze heat the back of his skull. It was the first time, since that first day of class, that the Uchiha had looked at Naruto, and it lasted for only a second.

"-I hardly remember them, anyway." It was a complete lie, of course, but before Kiba could decide to believe him or not, Kakashi sauntered in with a projector in hand.

"Today, we are watching a movie," he placed the machine on a random, center-ish desk, "because I don't feel like teaching."

A few giggles resounded around the class, but Naruto only rolled his eyes.

Kakashi began setting up the projector when Naruto noticed the orange and black laptop sitting on the man's desk. His eyebrow twitched.

"Oi!" he cried out, sitting suddenly at the edge of his seat. "That's my laptop!"

"I paid for it," Kakashi countered with a shrug.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, as a birthday gift for me! Kakashi-" he whined with a pout.

The silver-haired teacher ignored Naruto and stared blankly at the ends of the cables in his hands.

Naruto huffed. "Fine, but I'm setting it up!" and he pulled up out of his desk, limping slightly up to the front of the room. He ignored Kakashi to set up the computer, and when he finished, snatched the cables from his father-teacher. While he hooked them up, properly, to his laptop, Kakashi sat in his seat, kicking his feet up to the desktop and folding his hands behind his head.

"You'd better be able to press the fuckin' _Play_ button," the blond muttered as he limped back to his desk. A mumbled, _if you break it, you're buying me a better one,_ floated back to Kakashi as the blond sat. Some of his classmates giggled, and most of them looked confused.

"If Sakura sees you walking around without your crutches..." Kiba whispered as Kakashi started up the movie.

Groans resounded around the room; Kakashi was not in the mood to teach, no. He was in the mood to torture them with an educational film.

Naruto ignored the class. "I have them," and he nodded toward the back of the room, behind them, where the crutches lay against the wall. "I just don't need them so much."

Kiba smirked, "Don't want to get the shit beat out of you, huh. Smart idea."

Naruto rolled his eyes as the lights switched out, and settled back into his seat.

The movie was boring, which meant, unfortunately for the blond, it was the perfect opportunity for his mind to entertain itself. And, also unfortunately, his mind decided that those weird dreams were the perfect musing material.

Images from that last dream flashed through his memory, brought a light flush to his cheeks. When the feeling, that strange _need_, overcame him, a silent gasp parted his lips, and Naruto shifted uneasily in his seat.

He felt that gaze on him again - Sasuke's gaze - and it sent a shiver down his spine. Naruto heard a slight shift in the desk behind him, and stifled a gasp as hot breath passed over his neck.

"Something wrong, Naruto?" the Uchiha breathed in a whisper. Another shiver ran down Naruto's spine, and he closed his eyes, swallowing an unusual lump and shaking away the next mental reminder Sasuke's action caused.

"Nothing," he muttered. He felt the smirk Sasuke gave him, as the dark haired boy leaned away from him.

A shuddering breath passed Naruto's lips, and he glanced at the clock.

This would be a long class hour.

- - -

The blond swung, on his crutches, through the doors of a wide office building. It wasn't a large building, not compared to other big-city office buildings, but it worked well for his part-time job. He passed through the lobby, smiling a reply greeting to a thin brunette at the reception counter.

He paused near the stairs and elevator, pressed one of the small round buttons, and waited for the metal doors to slide open. On any usual day, he would have taken the stairs up to that fourth floor. But, seeing as he'd recently hurt his ankle, and someone was bound to tell Sakura that he'd walked up without the use of them, he decided that the elevator would have to work.

The metallic doors opened, and he swung in, hitting the fourth-floor button.

When the doors opened again, at the desired destination, Naruto swung out and paused.

"Good afternoon, Naruto!" Shizune shouted with a smile, though it was obviously strained.

Music resonated through the room, though a bit muffled, and Naruto arched a brow at the brunette. "Hi, Shizune."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Go on in, Tsunade-sama isn't doing anything... important," and her brow twitched again.

Naruto nodded, bitting his lip to keep from laughing at the poor woman. He had to wince when the door pushed open and the music became deafening.

He slammed the door closed behind him, catching the attention of the sadistically smirking blond, who glared at him for only a moment. Naruto arched a brow with a smirk of his own as Tsunade cut off the sound.

"Blond, American pop singer?" he guessed, setting his crutches against a door, and falling into seat across from her. "Shizuna piss you off again?"

Tsunade only shrugged carelessly before eying her young protege. "What happened to you?"

Naruto flushed, laughed nervously, and scratched the back of his head. "Uh... Gym class, Monday."

"Weren't you supposed to be _good_ at gym?" she smirked.

"Shut up, baa-chan!" the blond huffed and ignored the scathing glare at his remark. "What did you want, anyway? I didn't come for a visit, you know."

"You really should," the woman frowned. "I have a new job in, but..." she trailed off, gazing pointedly in the direction of his injured ankle.

Naruto frowned. "This doesn't effect my ability to work! What's the job? I can do it!"

"Alright." Tsunade folded her fingers on top of the papers on her desk, leveling a stare on the blond. "What do you think of ballrooms?"

The question seemed kind of random, but quite effectively triggered the memory of that dream, for the second time that day. And with the flash of memory, a blush spread, unwillingly, along the bridge of his nose. Naruto cleared his throat quietly, willed the flush away, and shrugged.

Unfortunately for him, the reaction was not lost on Tsunade, who proved as much with the arch of a brow. "What is that all about?" she asked, unusually curious.

Naruto looked away. "Nothing. Is that the job?"

"If it is, I don't think you would be able to get the job done. Now tell me, what was that about?"

The younger blond sighed and gave in. He told her the story of his night, and slid down low in his chair with the embarrassment. At the 'I was a half-chick in a dress' bit, an eyebrow arched, and Tsunade placed a hand over her mouth to try and cover the amused snickers.

"Quite a night," she commented offhandedly. "Doesn't sound like anything to worry about. Just a really weird and kinky dream." The younger blond shot a glare across the desk, and Tsunade smiled. "So, the job."

Naruto straightened up and looked at his boss expectantly. That sadistic smile curled the corners of Tsunade's lips, and a feeling of doom curled around the blond's midsection.

"There's a carnival this weekend. Feel free to go with friends, but don't forget to take photographs." She smirked at the gaping blond, and waved him off, flipping on the CD player once again.

The music effectively covered up the blond's angered yells and curses.

- - -

Not long after the blond had stormed out of Tsunade's office, she flipped the music off once more, and sat back in her chair, staring blankly at a picture of said blond that she always kept on her desk. A small knocked preceeded the entrance of her assistant, Shizuka, who appeared quite confused.

"Tsunade-sama?"

The lack of reply made Shizune walked into the room, and lay a gentle hand on Tsunade's shoulder, repeating her question.

"It's starting, Shizune," Tsunade distantly replied, and she continued before the brunette could question her. "Call them. Set up a meeting this weekend."

The brunette nodded, and rushed from the room.

Tsunade sighed, closing her eyes as she rubbed at her temple. Uchiha was back, which meant the others were close behind. Naruto's dreams only confirmed her suspicions.

Things were going to get complicated.

- - -  
**T**o**B**e **C**ontinued...  
- - -

Notes: 7 pages this chapter… I'm disappointed in myself! Thus far, chapter 1 is the longest I've written xD Oh well. I have also come up with a chapter range for the story, finally. This will (or should) be between 18 and 20 chapters long, depending on the story itself… of course.

Reviews are very much loved and wanted! Thank you all for reading

_Ch. 5 is in progress._


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